Can I divorce my wife without knowing where she is? 23 Answers as of May 09, 2011

I want to divorce my wife but I haven't seen her in 10 years and I don't know where she is. We separated a month after our marriage in 2002 and haven't heard of her since. What do I do if I can't find her? Can I still proceed with the divorce?

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Yes, you can divorce her. Hire an attorney who will have to spend much of their time trying to first serve her at her last residence and then eventually move for service by publication. Then you'll publish notice in a newspaper for 3 weeks and that will be sufficient to gain jurisdiction over her to obtain a divorce. Good luck.

You can still divorce her. You would need to hire somebody who knows the steps leading to service by publication, as well as what you need to do in a divorce case, so you would best retain or at least consult with an experienced Family Law Attorney to get your divorce.

You can file for divorce, however; normally, the opposing party (in this case your wife) would have to be served. In Oregon, there are many different types of "service." If really have no idea where she is, you may be able to get the court to allow you to serve via publication, meaning it is printed in the paper. That is kind of a last ditch effort when other means of service are not successful. You may want to consult an attorney in your area to get advice about the service process.

Yes you can. We can file a petition for dissolution and place a notice of publication of the petition in a local paper - depending on which county you are in depends on which paper I will place the publication (i.e. Cook county - law bulletin, Will County Farmer's weekly, etc.) This publication runs for a period of 6 weeks, we show proof of publication to the judge and move forward. Call the office today to set an appointment to begin moving forward.

Yes. If you have made diligent efforts to locate her without success the Court can authorize you to serve her (i.e. officially notify her) notice of the proceedings by publication in a local newspaper.

Yes, but there are court rules that you have to follow to get that divorce. Give me a call, make an appointment to come see me, and let's get moving on this for you. No charge for the first office visit. I know people worry about how expensive a lawyer is, so I am careful to be as inexpensive as I can for my clients. Before you spend a dime, you will know how much this is likely to be.

Yes, as long as you obtain permission from the court to have her served with notice of the divorce by publication. You will have to show the court that you have exercised due diligence in trying to locate her first.

Yes, you can pursue a "divorce by publication." There are many steps involved in this process, but I can certainly help you understand the steps involved. Please do not hesitate to contact my office for a complimentary consultation.

It is far more difficult to finalize a divorce without being able to sere the divorce papers on the other party. You must file a Motion to seek substitute service which is most often completed by publishing a notice of the divorce in the person's last known place of residence. To seek such a court order, you must document your efforts to locate your spouse.

Yes. you can proceed with the divorce, even if you don't know her whereabouts. You will need to get an order from the judge allowing you to serve her by "publication." You will then need to finish the divorce via "default." Call a local family law lawyer for assistance.

You can file, and then if she cannot be found, there may be appropriate paperwork to file for default. You should talk to an attorney in your area to be sure, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

You can proceed with a divorce without knowing her whereabouts. However, the process is a bit more involved. There is an article on my website titled, "How to Divorce a Missing Spouse in Massachusetts" that discusses this process in more detail.

What state do you live in? Washington? If you live in Western Washington, please feel free to contact my office for a free, no obligation consultation regarding this divorce matter. You could probably get a divorce, per se, but the Court wouldn't necessarily have the authority to divide up assets/debts, etc. without the other party being served, unless you're able to get authority to serve in an alternate fashion.

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